Heat exchanger

ABSTRACT

1,114,066. Heat exchange plate. TRANE CO. 16 May, 1966 [24 Oct., 1965], No. 21564/66, Heading F4S. A cooling plate 10, suitable for cooling a plurality of electronic components 18, comprises first and second aluminium plates, 12 and 14 resp., spaced apart and sealably connected along their edges by a metallic strip 13 so defining therebetween a fluid conducting space 15, each of said plates having four rows 16 of apertures 32 which are in alignment both with one another and with the bores 30 of aluminium columns 20 extending between said plates. A stud (60), to one end of which the component to be cooled is attached, passes through the cooling plate 10 to be engaged by a nut, (62, Fig. 2), thus ensuring good thermal contact between the cooling plate and component, the column 20 preventing stress deformation of said cooling plate. Disposed within the fluid conducting space 15 is a single piece of fin packing 34 comprising a corrugated and perforated metallic sheet said packing having apertures 38 for concentrically receiving columns 20 with a space 40 being left therebetween. An imperforate separating strip 42 extends between each adjacent pair of columns 20 of each row 16 of cooling sites, the opposite ends of adjacent rows having a further imperforate strip 44 extending from the end column of a row to a sealing strip 13a; Cooling fluid, supplied through duct 46, is thus caused to take a serpentine path, indicated by the heavy broken arrows, before entering the outlet duct 48, the space 40 between the packing and each column ensuring a complete flushing of the latter. During assembly, the contact surfaces of all components of the cooling plate are covered with a brazing alloy so that on heating of said plates bonding between components is achieved.

Filed Oct. 24, 1965 will! INVENTOR. FIG 6 ALAN G. BUTT /znw V and/MW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,327,776 HEAT EXCHANGER Alan G. Butt, La Crosse, Wis, assignor to The Trane Company, La Crosse, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,895 8 Claims. (Cl. 165-80) ABSTRACT {BF THE DESELGEURE This invention relates to heat exchangers particularly of the plate type for cooling electronic components and the like.

One object of my invention is to provide a cooling plate with an improved mounting structure for the components to be cooled. Specifically this mounting structure permits the components to be compressed firmly against the cooling plate for favorable heat transfer therebetween without damage to the plate by the compressive forces.

Another object is to provide a cooling plate with a serpentine fluid circuit utilizing a single piece packing embracing all spans of the serpentine circuit.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cool ing plate having parts which can be simply and efliciently assembled.

These and other objects will be more'clearly understood as this specification proceeds to describe in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a'perspective view of'my novel cooling plate having portions broken away to illustrate the interior structure thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View taken at line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a detail taken at line 33 of FIGURE 1 as it would appear during assembly;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the fin packing shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a reduced perspective view of the fin packing shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail taken at line 66 of FIGURE 1.

Now referring to the drawings, there is shown a brazed plate type heat exchanger cooling plate 10. Cooling plate 10 includes first and second rectangular aluminum plates 12 and 14 of similar configuration. Plates 12 and 14 are arranged in superposed spaced parallel relationship. A plurality of aluminum side closing bars 13 are interposed between plates 12 and 14 at the borders thereof for sealingly connecting plates 12 and 14 thereby defining, with said plates, a fluid conducting space 15. Each of plates '12 and 14 is clad on inner surfaces 22 and 24 thereof with a brazing alloy, not shown. Certain of bars 13 designated as 13a are provided with a transverse groove 17 facing space 15 for purposes to be explained.

Each plate 12 and 14 has four rows 16 of sites for mounting elements or components to be cooled, such as electronic components 18. For convenience of illustration, only the sites of one row are shown as having a component 18 mounted thereon.

Disposed within space 15 at each site is a circular disc or short circular column 20 of aluminum abutting at the ends thereof the inner faces 22 and 24 of plates 12 and 14. Each of the columns 20 has at the periphery 3,327,776 Patented June 27, 1967 thereof two diametrically opposed axially extending grooves 26, the function of which will be explained hereinafter. Each column 20 further has an axially extending circular aperture 30 which is arranged in registry with a through-going circular aperture 32 of similar diameter in each of plates 12 and 14.

Also disposed within space 15 is a single piece of fin packing 34. Packing 34 is comprised of a corrugated metallic sheet having relatively small perforations 36 as shown in FIGURE 4. These perforations may be of var ious configurations and patterns and their spacing and size is preferably less than the fin height (the distance between plates 12 and 14). These perforations may be formed in the metallic sheet prior to being corrugated.

The fin packing 34 is further provided with a plurality of relatively large circular apertures 38 (FIGURE 5) which are arranged to concentrically receive discs or columns 20 asshown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Apertures 38 are about one-eighth inch larger than columns 20 so that when assembled there remains a space 40 between the columns 20 and packing 34 as seen in FIGURES l and 2. The rows of apertures 38 for the rows 16 of cooling sites are parallel to the hills and valleys of the corrugated packing 34. Apertures 38 may be accurately formed by filling the fin packing 34 with a temporary supporting material and drilling the apertures in a fixture for proper location after which the supporting material is removed.

An imperforate separating strip 42 extends between each adjacent pair of columns 20 of each row 16 of cooling sites. Each row 16 is further provided with an imperforate end separator strip 44 which extends from a bar 13a to a column 20 at one end of the row. Each of the imperforate separator strips 42 and 44 lie within a loop or valley of the corrugated packing 34 andextend laterally to one of the plates 12 and 14 as shown in FIGURE 6. The grooves 26 at the sides of columns 20 and the grooves 17 in bars 13a receive the ends of strips 42 and 44. End strips 44 are placed at opposite ends of adjacent rows thereby restricting passage of cooling medium within space 15 to a serpentine path as designated by the heavy dashed arrows in FIGURE 1'. This serpentine flow path is provided with inlet and outlet conduits 46 and 48 which are connected with inlet and outlet apertures 50 and 52 respectively in plate 12 for receiving and discharging a cooling fluid.

The end turns of the serpentine flow pathmay be formed by providing recessed portions 54 of packing 34 with corrugated fin sections 56 of triangular configuration having the hills and valleys thereof extending per pendicularly to the hills and valleys of packing-34..

In constructing the cold plate 10, the parts thereof are assembled as shown in FIGURE 1. A peg 58 (FIGURE 3) formed from brazing wire of square or rectangular cross-section is inserted snugly into each of the holes formed by apertures 30 and 32 to, accurately locate the discs or columns Ztlduring assembly. The square or rec tangular configuration of peg 58 within the circular bores permits brazing flux to enter the bores for a subsequent brazing operation. It will be evident that separating strips 42 and 44 also assist via grooves 17 and 26 in retaining the packing 34 in proper location with respect to columns 20 and thus in respect to plates 12 and 14.

The assemblage is then heated to a suificiently high temperature in a furnace or bath to fuse the brazing alloy and then allowed to cool for bonding the parts together as an integral unit. The clad inner faces 22 and 24 of plates 12 and 14 thus become brazed to the sides of bars 13, the hills of packing 34 and fin sections 56, the lateral edges of separating strips 42 and 44 and the end surfaces of columns 20. Pegs 58 melt away leaving throughgoing hole-s in plate for receiving the studs 60 of components 18.

Suitable nuts 62 may be secured upon the ends of studs 60 for drawing components 18 into compressive relationship with the outer surfaces of the cooling plate 10 thereby enhancing the heat transfer from the components to the cooling plate. Columns 20 function to resist the compressive forces exerted by the components thus avoiding deformation of the cooling plate surface. Columns 20 also function to conduct heat from the cooling sites to the inner portion of the cooling plate in contact with the cooling fluid.

In operating the cooling plate, a cooling fluid is passed into inlet conduit 46, through inlet aperture 50, through the serpentine path as designated by the dashed arrows in FIGURE 1, out outlet aperture 52 and outlet conduit 48. The fluid flowing within the serpentine path comes in direct contact with columns 20 to conduct heat therefrom. The spaces 40 function to conduct cooling fluid along the side surfaces of columns 20, thus enhancing this heat transfer between the columns and the cooling fluid.

Although I have described in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention, I contemplate that many changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention and I desire to be limited only by the claims.

I claim:

1. A cooling plate comprising first and second metallic plates of similar configuration disposed in superposed spaced relationship; sealing means sealably connecting said plates along the borders thereof whereby a fluid conducting space is defined by the inner faces of said plates and said sealing means; said first plate having an outer face thereof a plurality of rows of cooling sites for cooling a plurality of elements; each one of said sites having adjacent thereto a metallic column abutting the inner face of said first plate in alignment with said one site; each of said columns extending into said fluid conducting space; a perforated fin packing disposed within said fluid conducting space circumscribing said columns; said packing having a plurality of apertures of sufficient size to receive said columns; a substantially imperforate separator strip extending substantially from one column to the other column of each pair of columns within each row; each row of columns having at one end thereof a substantially imperforate end separator strip extending substantially from said sealing means substantially to a column at one end of each row; said end separator strips being arranged at remote ends of adjacent rows thereby defining a serpentine fluid flow path; and a fluid inlet and outlet disposed at opposite ends of said serpentine fiuid flow path for receiving into and discharging from said cooling plate a cooling fluid whereby elements positioned at said cooling sites are cooled.

2. The apparatus defined by claim 1 wherein said columns are provided with grooves at the sides thereof for receiving the ends of said imperforate separator strips.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said packing is comprised of a single piece which traverses said separator strips and is disposed in several spans of said serpentine fluid flow path.

4. A coo-ling plate comprising first and second plates of similar configuration disposed in superposed spaced relationship; sealing means sealably connecting said plates along the borders thereof whereby a fluid conducting space is defined by the inner faces of said plates and said sealing means; said first plate having on the outer face thereof a plurality of rows of cooling sites for cooling a plurality of elements; each one of said sites having associated therewith a metallic column bonded at one end thereof to the inner face of said first plate in alignment with said one site; each of said columns extending through said fluid conducting space to the inner face of said second plate; a corrugated perforated fin packing disposed within said fluid conducting space circumscribing said columns and having the hills and valleys thereof extending in parllel relationship to said rows; said packing having a plurality of apertures of suflicient size toreceive said columns in spaced relationship thereby defining a space between said packing and each of said columns; a substantially imperforate separator strip extending substantially from one column to the other column of each pair of columns within each row; each row of columns having at one end thereof a substantially imperforate 7 end separator strip extending substantially from said sealing means substantially to a column at one end of each row; said end separator strips being arranged at remote ends of adjacent rows thereby defining a serpentine fluid flow path; and a fluid inlet and outlet disposed at opposite ends of said serpentine fluid flow path for receiving into and discharging from said cooling plate a cooling fluid whereby elements positioned at said sites are cooled.

5. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said imperforate separator strips are disposed within the loop portion of said fin packing.

6. The apparatus as defined by claim 5 wherein said columns are provided with grooves at the sides thereof for receiving the ends of said imperforate strips.

7. The apparatus as defined by claim 4 wherein said packing is comprised of a single piece which traverses said separator strips and is disposed in several spans of said serpentine fluid flow path. 7

8. The apparatus defined by claim 4 wherein each of said columns is provided with an axially extending through-going aperture in registry with apertures in said first and second plates for compressive mounting of elements to be cooled.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,912,624 11/1959 Wagner 317- 3,048,374 8/ 1962 Hughes 80 3,135,321 6/1964 Butt et al 165-154 FOREIGN PATENTS 234,265 6/1961 Australia. 1,363,913 5/1964 France.

MEYER PERLIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner.

A. W. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COOLING PLATE COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND METALLIC PLATES OF SIMILAR CONFIGURATION DISPOSED IN SUPERPOSED SPACED RELATIONSHIP; SEALING MEANS SEALING CONNECTING SAID PLATES ALONG THE BORDERS THEREOF WHEREBY A FLUID CONDUCTING SPACE IS DEFINED BY THE INNER FACES OF SAID PLATES AND SAID SEALING MEANS; SAID FIRST PLATE HAVING AN OUTER FACE THEREOF A PLURALITY OF ROWS OF COOLING SITES FOR COOLING A PLURALITY OF ELEMENTS; EACH ONE OF SAID SITES HAVING ADJACENT THERETO A METALLIC COLUMN ABUTTING THE INNER FACE OF SAID FIRST PLATE IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID ONE SITE; EACH OF SAID COLUMNS EXTENDING INTO SAID FLUID CONDUCTING SPACE; A PERFORATED FIN PACKING DISPOSED WITHIN SAID FLUID CONDUCTING SPACE CIRCUMSCRIBING SAID COLUMNS; SAID PACKING HAVING A PLURALITY OF APERTURES OF SUFFICIENT SIZE TO RECEIVE SAID COLUMNS; A SUBSTANTIALLY IMPERFORATE SEPARATOR STRIP EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY FROM ONE COLUMN TO THE OTHER COLUMN OF EACH PAIR OF COLUMNS WITHIN EACH ROW; EACH ROW OF COLUMNS HAVING AT ONE END THEREOF A SUBSTANTIALLY IMPERFORATE END SEPARATOR STRIP EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY FROM SAID SEALING MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY TO A COLUMN AT ONE END OF EACH ROW; SAID END SEPARATOR STRIPS BEING ARRANGED AT REMOTE ENDS OF ADJACENT ROWS THEREBY DEFINING A SERPENTINE FLUID FLOW PATH; AND A FLUID INLET AND OUTLET DISPOSED AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID SERPENTINE FLUID FLOW PATH FOR RECEIVING INTO AND DISCHARGING FROM SAID COOLING PLATE A COOLING FLUID WHEREBY ELEMENTS POSITIONED AT SAID COOLING SITES ARE COOLED. 